Group Meetings Make You Sound Stupid

New
research shows that small-group dynamics can alter expression of IQ in
some people, dramatically dropping problem-solving ability.

TUESDAY,
Jan. 24, 2012 — If you’ve ever felt like long
meetings at work numb your brain, you may not be far off. New research shows
that small-group settings — everything from a meeting at the office
to a cocktail party or a jury deliberation — can alter IQ expression.
“You may
joke about how committee meetings make you feel brain dead, but our findings
suggest that they may make you act brain dead as well," says lead
researcher Read Montague, director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and
Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.
It’s all
about reaction to subtle social cues, according to the study, which is published
in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
Researchers
measured participants’ performances on cognitive tasks to establish baseline IQ,
broke the participants into groups of five, and ranked how well they fared in
comparison to one another. Then they revealed the results to the group to
create an unspoken status ranking. The participants were then tested again to
show how their implied social status affected their expressed IQ. For some, the
point drop was significant.
Perception
of social ranking in the room (in other words, worrying
if you’re as smart, capable, or cool as the others in a group) can impair even
the smartest person’s problem-solving ability, hinting that measuring IQ may
require more than a single, isolated test.
While
male and female participants tested with similar baseline IQs, significantly more
women fell into the low-performance group, indicating they may be more
susceptible to social feedback than men.
Have you ever felt brain-dead in a meeting?
Share this theory with coworkers and test it out on yourself.